古代ローマ遺跡やパレスチナの聖誕教会が再開、コロナ対策緩和受け

【ベツレヘムＡＦＰ＝時事】各国で新型コロナウイルス対策の緩和が進み、経済活動が再開される中、イエス・キリストの生誕地に立つとされる聖誕教会や古代ローマの都市ポンペイの遺跡が、巡礼者や観光客の受け入れを再開した。（写真はイタリア・ポンペイの遺跡付近を歩く観光客）
　パレスチナ自治区のベツレヘムでは、２か月間以上にわたって閉鎖されていた聖誕教会が巡礼者らの受け入れを再開した。
　パレスチナのルーラ・マアーヤア観光・遺跡担当相は同教会の再開について、「この（新型コロナウイルスの）パンデミック（世界的な大流行）が収束するという希望を世界に示す」ものだと述べた。
　新型ウイルス感染拡大の懸念から、多くの国で観光業界が休止状態に追い込まれた。パレスチナ当局は先に、ベツレヘムに新型コロナウイルス感染症（ＣＯＶＩＤ-１９）を持ち込んだのはギリシャからの観光客グループだと発表していた。
　新型ウイルスが中国から欧州へと広がった後、世界の感染の中心地となっていたイタリアでも、ポンペイの遺跡が観光客の受け入れを再開した。ポンペイは西暦７９年、火山の大噴火により破壊されたが、大量の火山灰に覆われたことにより、建物の多くがほぼ元の状態で保存されている。
　ただし、イタリアは来月まで外国人観光客の入国を禁止しているため、昨年４００万人の観光客が訪れたポンペイは２６日、まだ閑散としていた。
　約２か月にわたって電子的取引のみを行ってきた米ニューヨーク証券取引所も、トレーディングフロアでの取引を一部再開した。新型ウイルスに感染するリスクを減らすため、トレーダーの数を制限し、マスクを着用させた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/05/28-13:09）

The Church of the Nativity and the ruins of ancient Pompeii reopened to pilgrims and tourists on Tuesday, as countries further eased coronavirus controls and reopened shuttered economies.
For many nations, including hard-hit Italy and Spain, the summer season will be key to saving what is left of the tourism industry and the latest tentative steps out of lockdown buoyed world markets.
But, while now past its peak in Asia and much of Europe, the new coronavirus is continuing its spread. On Tuesday the number of case passed the 5.5 million mark, according to an AFP tally of official sources.
The number of declared cases in the world has doubled in a month and more than one million new cases of COVID-19 have been registered in the last 11 days. More than 346,000 deaths have been recorded worldwide.
The virus, and the associated national economic and social lockdowns decreed to halt its spread, have also plunged the world economy into a terrible slump -- and ominous figures and forecasts continue to pile up.
Asian trading hub Singapore warned Tuesday its economy could shrink by as much as seven percent this year. EU leaders, meanwhile, will announce an unprecedented trillion-euro recovery package on Wednesday.
The virus has also had an immense political impact.
US President Donald Trump lashed out furiously on Twitter after he was criticised for playing golf over the weekend as the death toll in his country from the coronavirus pandemic neared 100,000.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government was in crisis and a minister resigned after top Downing Street aide Dominic Cummings refused to apologise for driving his family across the country despite the lockdown.
- Holy birthplace -
But there were also signs of hope at some of the world's best known and symbolic destinations.
In Bethlehem, the Church of the Nativity -- built on the spot where Christians believe their saviour Jesus was born -- reopened its doors after more than two months.
Once inside, Greek Orthodox Bishop Theophylactos kissed an icon while a priest scattered holy water in the grotto where Jesus is said to have rested in a manger.
Palestinian authorities believe the COVID-19 virus came to Bethlehem with a group of Greek tourists -- and the virus outbreak has devastated the travel industry worldwide.
Nevertheless, in Italy -- once the world epicentre of infections after it spread to Europe from China -- the site of a previous natural disaster also reopened to visitors.
The ruins of the Roman city of Pompeii, destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD and preserved through the centuries in a layer of ash, attracted four million visitors last year.
It has now reopened, but foreign visitors are still prohibited from travel to Italy until next month, and locals from the Naples region found the site deserted.
It's only us guides, and journalists, sighed 48-year-old Valentina Raffone, noting a sense of emptiness, of sadness as if after a disaster on the scale of the city's end.
Italian foreign minister Luigi di Maio says he is working with EU colleagues to agree on June 15 as a coordinated day for member states to reopen their borders and tourist regions.
- Massive stimulus -
We should save what we can save of the summer, to aid our entrepreneurs, he said.
Beyond tourism, the European Union is attempting to launch an unprecedented trillion-euro economic stimulus to speed the recovery from the pandemic.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will unveil her proposal Wednesday, but EU capitals are likely to argue over the details, and a coalition of four frugal northern states opposes too generous grants to the hard-hit south.
Elsewhere, Russia on Tuesday recorded its highest daily coronavirus death toll of 174 but said more than 12,000 people had also recovered over the past 24 hours.
Health officials said Russia's total death toll from the pandemic had reached 3,807 and its number of cases had hit 362,342, the third-highest number of infections in the world after the United States and Brazil.
And in the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte said students will not to go back to school until a coronavirus vaccine is available -- a prospect that may be months or years away.
burs-dc/jv